


Tattooed Tears

by tveektveak



Category: South Park
Genre: Craig is a dork, Creek Week (South Park), Creek Week 2020, M/M, Tattoos, super mild mentions of blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27218998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tveektveak/pseuds/tveektveak
Summary: Craig gets his first tattoo, and everything goes wrong. (Creek Week Day 1: Tattoos)
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16
Collections: Creek Week





	Tattooed Tears

Craig squinted at the window of the tattoo parlour and tried not to flinch.

The inside was clean and sterile, with plain white walls and minimalistic decor. There were two leather couches, a glass table covered in magazines and a water cooler. It almost looked like a hair salon waiting room, but for the dentist's chairs in the background. They were huge and black, and next to them were tables with different tattooing knick-knacks. Pencils, stencils, inks and what looked like a huge drill with a needle attached to it.

Craig swallowed harshly and glanced at his phone. He was running late, and the more he stared at the shop the less he wanted to move. He tried to distract himself with social media, but the good luck messages from his friends only made it worse. Frustrated, he shoved his phone in his pocket and grumbled under his breath. 

Above him, the sign reading ''Denver Devil Tattoo'' flickered to life.

He decided to count to a hundred and then finally just go through with it. He closed his eyes, breathing softly, and started counting, feeling himself relax as he did.

"Excuse me, do you need help?"

He gasped and turned around, clutching the straps of his backpack. The door to the parlour opened, and a woman stood staring at him awkwardly. She was tattooed, with a floral blackwork sleeve on her left arm, and she was wearing a black t-shirt with the shop's logo embroidered in the center.

''Oh, uh. I have an appointment."

She frowned, looking him over. "Are you sure? You look a bit lost. You were standing there for a while."

Craig flushed red in embarrassment. He nodded, staring at the wall. "Yep, I'm sure. Craig Tucker, 2 o' clock. It should be written down. Or something."

The woman's eyes flashed in recognition, and her lips twitched into a small smile. "Oh! Right, Tweek's 2 o' clock. You can come in, Craig!"

Craig hesitated, glancing at his car, before shaking his head and following the woman inside the shop. The air inside smelled like disinfectant, almost like a hospital. It added to his nerves, He took a seat on the leather couch, his eyes scanning the magazine covers for a distraction.

"I think Tweek's just cleaning up after his last appointment, he should be with you in a second!"

"Cool, thanks."

Behind the dentist chairs, people were talking and moving around. The Denver Devil wasn't huge, but it was popular. Craig followed the account on Instagram, where it had 300.000 followers, and its artists' personal accounts had a big following as well. Tweek Tweak was the most well-known artist in the lineup.

Tweek was known for his nature tattoos - he tattoed anything from dogs to manatees. His lineart was steady and clean, his colouring was great, and he often did cute but creepy pieces, like many-eyed cats or demon deer. Craig had tried for months before he finally managed to book an appointment with him, but it was worth it. He wanted his first tattoo to be perfect.

He spent some time flipping through a tattoo magazine, till he could ignore the pit in his stomach. The background noise quieted down, everyone falling back into rhythm. He was on page seventeen when he was approached.

"Hi! Jesus, I'm sorry for the delay. Nice to meet you though!"

Tweek didn't post pictures of himself often, but he was as Craig remembered him. Unkept hair, sunken eyes, a dinosaur tattoo with a rainbow background on his bicep. He got up and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Craig."

Tweek let go and smiled at him. "Follow me, Craig! Man, I'm excited to show this to you!"

He took off, leading Craig to the back of the shop, behind the chairs and messy supplies. There was a cluttered desk, with colouring pencils and a mess of papers on it. Tweek grabbed the paper at the top of the pile and shoved it in Craig's face. "What do you think?"

Craig stared at it. The design was exactly what he'd been hoping for. It wasn't too over the top, but it was still cute and stood out. He took the paper from Tweek, to get a better look. The idea that this would soon be on his skin sent shivers down his spine.

Next to him, Tweek bit his lip. "Fuck, um, you're not saying anything, do you not like it? I have some other sketches, they're not as refined or anything but I guess I could find them if you want, I can-"

"No, wait," Craig said. He looked at the drawing, then back at Tweek. "I like it."

"But-"

"It's perfect dude, seriously. Thank you."

At this, Tweek's expression softened. He exhaled shakily, and took the paper back. "That's good then! Sit down, I'll stencil it on you."

Craig sat on the dentist's chair and took his hoodie off. He was left in a white tank top, and he got goosebumps from the cool air. 

Tweek sat on a stool next to him and took hold of his arm. He examined it carefully, before placing his palm on a spot under Craig's shoulder. "What about here?" he asked.

Craig glanced at his arm. "Yeah, that's good."

The blonde carefully held the stencil up to his arm and pressed down, leaving the pattern on his skin. He waited a while and then slowly lifted the paper, revealing the design underneath. Even though he was scared, Craig felt himself getting excited. 

"Okay, so have you had a snack and something to drink?"

Craig nodded. "Yeah. I have a water bottle and a sandwich in my backpack too."

"Nice! Okay, um, we can get started if you're ready," Tweek said, and he brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. 

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

This is cool.

"Sure, I'm good to go," Craig said. He was hyper-aware of his heartbeat, beating quickly in his chest, but he ignored it. He focused on Tweek's face as he got the tattooing gun ready. He was concentrated, eyebrows furrowed and tongue sticking out of his lips. He brushed his hair out of his face again, and looked at Craig. "If you need a break, let me know! It's not super complicated so it should be fine, just try to stay still. Please."

Craig couldn't speak. He nodded again, reaching for the water bottle in his backpack. He downed a third of it, trying to stall for time. He took his sandwich out, checked the time on his phone, and tied his shoelaces before he ran out of ideas. 

It was time.

Tweek approached him with the gun, and he shut his eyes tightly. He didn't want to be an annoying client - squirming or making noises. Tweek seemed nice, and he probably didn't want to deal with grown men acting like children over a tattoo. Craig had to keep it together.

When the needle touched his skin, he felt every hair on his body stand up.

The pain wasn't excruciating, but it was persistent, and it stang. Craig bit his lip and his hands clenched into fists, with his fingernails digging in his palms. The buzzing of the tattoo gun was giving him a headache, and the bright lights were suddenly too much. 

He opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. The tattoo looked fine, but his arm didn't. Tweek casually wiped blood and ink off the tan skin, and Craig felt his stomach twist. He'd watched the YouTube videos, he knew this was normal, but it didn't make it better. Without meaning to, he made a sound, a surprised noise from low in his throat. 

The stinging pain faded away. He heard Tweek's stool dragging on the floor, and then the annoying buzzing stopped. Confused, he looked at his arm. It was unfinished, a half-done mess of incoherent lines.

"Why did you stop?" 

Tweek turned around to look at him. His hair was falling in his face and he was flushed from concentration, but it was clear he wasn't happy. His lips were turned into a soft frown, and his eyes were darting around the room anxiously. "You clearly needed a break man!"

Craig crossed his arms. "I'm fine. I didn't tell you to stop."

Tweek put the gun down and snorted. "You almost bit your lip off! Just give it a minute dude, eat your sandwich."

Craig wanted to protest, but the pain in his arm stopped him. He used his intact arm to grab the ham sandwich laying sadly on the chair. He ate it in silence, feeling some of his slowly strength return. Suddenly hungry, he finished it in under a minute, and drank the rest of his water. Tweek was watching him the entire time, and he kept staring as Craig replied to a few texts on his phone. He wasted a few minutes on Instagram till he couldn't feel his arm aching anymore.

"I'm seriously fine now," he said, expecting Tweek to protest.

The tattoo artist looked Craig up and down, and sighed. "Alright. But next time tell me if it gets bad. Or else!"

Maybe it was the agonizing pain, but Craig found that kind of cute.

Tweek got back to work, and at least this time the pain didn't come as a surprise. Instead of closing his eyes, Craig tried to look at the tattoo, but the blood soon made him queasy. He decided to stare at Tweek instead. He was focused and confident in his movements, and his gloved hand was warm on Craig's skin. Craig noticed a sunflower tattoo peeking out of his collarbone, which got him staring at Tweek's throat, and finally his mouth. It was half-open, no hint of his earlier nervousness showing in the relaxed expression.

His arm started hurting a lot again. 

He counted Tweek's freckles to get his mind off it. Then his eyelashes, and the number of gold specks in his brown eyes.  
Tweek's hand slid up his shoulder, to keep him steady. Craig subconsciously leaned into the touch.

"All done! You did really good the second half."

Huh?

Craig blinked at Tweek, then looked at his arm. He took a sharp inhale, sitting up straight. "No way! Woah. Fuck. This looks so cool."

Tweek grinned proudly, handing Craig a mirror. "You can see all of it like this! Um, I think it looks good too! Though I guess I was the one who drew it, so, hah. Uh. Here!"

Craig took the mirror and angled it so he could get a good look at his tattoo.

The chubby face of a guinea pig stared back at him from the inside of the crescent moon background. Holy shit.

"Thank you so much, dude. Seriously."

Tweek flushed pink, and his mouth twitched as he tried to hold back a smile. "I was just doing my job," he said, looking away.

"Yeah, you did it well. I'm coming back here for like. All of my tattoos. All of them."

Tweek laughed and shook his head. "Try to get home without passing out first!"

"I'm not gonna pass out," Craig huffed. The pain in his arm was quickly fading away now that the tattooing process was over. He'd need a painkiller to sleep, probably, but he was doing fine. He couldn't wait to go home and show everyone the tattoo.

Craig grabbed his backpack and got up from the chair. 

Out of nowhere, he felt his legs buckle, and the edges of his vision turned black.

Fuck. 

"Woah, fuck! Bebe, get him some water! Shit, shit, shit-"

He held on to the nearest thing he could grab - in this case Tweek. Slowly, he was placed back on the chair. He leaned back against the leather, and breathed deeply. He could hear shuffling noises from behind him, and soon there was a cup of something cold pressed in his hand.

"Craig? Can you try and drink that for me?"

Tweek's voice was quiet and gentle, but he could hear the panic in it. Fuck, and he hadn't wanted to become one of those dramatic customers.

Grumbling, he opened his eyes and lifted the plastic cup to his lips. He took a sip of water, examining how it sat in his stomach, and then downed the rest of it. He looked at Tweek next to him. He had scratches on his arm, from when Craig tried to grab him as he fell. Fuck, Tweek had caught him?

He froze. He looked down at Tweek's hand, which was laying reassuringly on top of his. Woah.

Tweek noticed him staring, and offered him a little smile. "So, um, bad time to ask but. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

"Get it? Cause, um, you almost fainted and you fell down and-"

"Oh god."

"Fuck, Bebe, I think I made him pass out again!"

(If the image doesn't load, try this link! https://www.flickr.com/photos/190791783@N07/50535383957/ )


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